Friday, May 20
Ana Castillo: “Black Dove”
6 p.m., 57th Street Books, RSVP online
Chicana novelist and playwright Ana Castillo will be discussing her new book, Black Dove: Mamá, Mi’jo, and Me. In the book, Castillo remembers raising her son and the pain of witnessing his incarceration. She also examines the experience of being an inner-city Latina single mother. Castillo is the author of So Far from God and Sapogonia, two New York Times Notable Books of the Year. Her newest novel, Give It to Me, won a 2014 Lambda Literary Award.
Saturday, May 21
Festival of Nations
All day, International House.
International House (I-House) will be hosting its annual Festival of Nations on Sunday. I-House residents will share their cultures through music, food, and performances. The event is a long-established I-House tradition, and International Houses worldwide hold similar festivals.
Christena Nippert-Eng: “Gorillas Up Close”
2 p.m., 57th Street Books, RSVP online
Scientist Christena Nippert-Eng and photographers John Dominski and Miguel Martinez will be discussing their new book, Gorillas Up Close, in an event for all ages. Gorillas Up Close explains the differences between gorillas in zoos and gorillas in the wild, and examines the similarities between gorillas and humans.
John N. Low: “Imprints” with Gary Johnson
3 p.m., Seminary Co-Op Bookstore, RSVP online
John N. Low, a professor at the Ohio State University at Newark, will be discussing his recent book, Imprints: The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and the City of Chicago, with Gary T. Johnson, president of the Chicago History Museum. Low’s book discusses the Pokagan Potawatomi Indians, who have fought against assimilation and marginalization throughout Chicago’s history. Low is himself a Pokagan Potawatomi Indian and was previously the executive director of the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian in Evanston.
Sunday, May 22
Ending the AIDS Epidemic on the South Side
11 a.m.–1 p.m., Newberger Hillel Center, 5715 South Woodlawn Avenue, RSVP online
The 2016 Rabbi Daniel I. Leifer Lecture will focus on the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which still disproportionately affects people of color, those in poverty, and the LGBT community despite advances in treatment. Dr. John Schneider, the director of the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination, will be in discussion with other HIV prevention professionals from across the city. The event begins with a brunch at 11 a.m. and the lecture will start at 11:45 a.m. The Center will also be collecting toothbrushes, toothpaste, and small bottles of shampoo and lotion for hygiene kits at the event.
Monday, May 23
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
6–7:15 p.m., Gordon Parks Assembly Hall, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, 1362 East 59th Street, Register online
Eric Holder, who served as the U.S. Attorney General from 2008 to 2015, will discuss his career, which has involved issues such as criminal justice, terrorism, immigration, and same-sex marriage, as well as his experience in politics and his views on current events. University of Chicago Law professor David Strauss will moderate the discussion.
Jeffrey Winters: Literary Public Sphere “The Panama Papers: Unmasking the Wealth Defense Industry”
6–8 p.m. Seminary Co-Op Bookstore, RSVP online
Jeffrey Winters, professor of political science and director of the Equality Development and Globalization Studies program at Northwestern University, will discuss the Panama Papers in relation to his academic work on oligarchy and extreme wealth stratification. The event is part of a series of monthly conversations at the Co-op focused on creating a “literary public sphere,” in which individual readers are encouraged to be participants rather than audience members in a discussion combining contemporary issues and informed scholarship.
Tuesday, May 24
The Privilege of Innovation
5–6:30 p.m., Center for Identity + Inclusion, 5710 South Woodlawn Avenue, Register online
Panelists Demond Drummer of CoderSpace, Alex Niemczewski of BallotReady, and Katherine Darnstadt of Latent Design will speak with Shaz Rasul, the director of community programs at the UChicago Office of Civic Engagement. They will discuss systemic barriers to women’s and people of color’s involvement in entrepreneurship. A reception will follow the panel discussion.
Energy Breakthroughs: A Glimpse into the Future
5:15–7 p.m., Chicago Innovation Exchange Skydeck, 5235 South Harper Court, Register online
Several speakers will discuss the advancements in solar technology, storage, and the electric grid necessary to create a more sustainable world. Seth Darling, a scientist at the Argonne National Laboratory and a fellow at UChicago’s Institute for Molecular Engineering, will examine the future of solar technology, while Kevin Gallagher, a chemical engineer at the Argonne National Laboratory, will discuss the future of energy storage. Leah Guzowski, director of strategy and research programs and an energy policy scientist at the Argonne National Laboratory, will explore the future of the grid.
Philip Bohlman: Jazz Worlds/World Jazz with Travis A. Jackson, the University of Chicago Music Department
6 p.m., Seminary Co-Op Bookstore, RSVP online
Philip Bohlman, the Mary Werkman Distinguished Service Professor of the Humanities and of Music at the University of Chicago, will be speaking about his new book Jazz Worlds/World Jazz. The book explores the reach of jazz beyond America, tracing stories from India to Armenia, and explores how jazz influences cultures through themes of place, history, mobility, media, and race. The event will also feature a jazz guitar performance by Michael Allemana, a guitarist, composer, and Ph.D. candidate in ethnomusicology at the University of Chicago.
A Conversation with Senator Tom Harkin: The Future of the Senate
6–7:15 p.m., Quadrangle Club, 1155 East 57th Street, Register online
Tom Harkin, who served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015, will discuss the current state of the Senate, including important upcoming Senate races and the nomination of Merrick Garland. Harkin introduced the Americans with Disabilities Act into the Senate and has been a strong supporter of rights for people with disabilities.
Wednesday, May 25
Ahmed White: ‘The Last Great Strike”
6 p.m., Seminary Co-Op Bookstore, Register online
Ahmed White, a professor of law at the University of Colorado at Boulder, will discuss his book The Last Great Strike. In the book, White examines the Little Steel Strike, a 1937 strike that included violent clashes with police and National Guardsmen in which at least 16 strikers were killed. White argues against the traditional narrative that the Little Steel Strike was only a modest setback for workers, writing instead that it exposed the contradictions of the labor movement and the strength of corporate power.
Martin Seay: “The Mirror Thief” with Scott Onak
6 p.m., 57th Street Books, Register online
Author Martin Seay will discuss his first novel The Mirror Thief with Scott Onak, who teaches creative writing at the University of Chicago Graham School. The Mirror Thief is a mystery-adventure novel focusing on the team of glassmakers who worked to perfect the mirror in Venice in the 16th century, while weaving in stories from Venice Beach in 1958 and the Venice casino in Las Vegas in the present day.
In the Crosshairs: How Campaigns Use Data to Target Voters
6–7:15 p.m., International House, Register online
The IOP is hosting a panel discussion on the emerging ways that campaigns use data, from home addresses to magazine subscriptions, to profile and target voters. Alex Lundry, former chief data scientist for the Romney Campaign, and Tom Bonier, CEO of TargetSmart and a prominent Democratic strategist, will speak as panelists. Sasha Issenberg, a political reporter and the author of The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns, will moderate.
Thursday, May 26
The State Of LGBT Entrepreneurship in the U.S.
5:30–8 p.m., Gleacher Center, Room 621, 450 North Cityfront Plaza Drive
Waverly Deutsch, Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Booth School of Business, and other scholars will present research on LGBT entrepreneurship and its implications for economic growth. The event will also include a panel discussion with Chicago entrepreneurs and members of StartOut, a nonprofit that aims to advance LGBT entrepreneurship.
Indie City Writers Live-Lit at 57th Street Books #2
6–8 p.m., 57th Street Books, RSVP online
Indie City Writers, a collective aiming to enhance the writing community on the South Side, will host a night of literature readings. Featured writers include Samantha Clark, Yvonne Jeffries, Alex Weiss, Della Leavitt, Steve Bellinger, Marissa McCants, K.B. Jensen and M.L. Kennedy. Books by local authors will be available for purchase.
David Satter: “The Less You Know, The Better You Sleep”
6 p.m., Seminary Co-Op Bookstore, RSVP online
David Satter, a former Moscow correspondent of the Financial Times of London and the first American journalist to be expelled from Russia since the Cold War, will be discussing his new book, The Less You Know, The Better You Sleep: Russia’s Road to Terror and Dictatorship under Yeltsin and Putin. The book examines the apartment bombings in 1999, which Satter argues were conducted by the Russian FSB security police, though they were blamed on Chechens. He will also discuss the authoritarianism of Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin.
2016 Presidential Election: The Effects of Political Rhetoric on Minority Communities
6–8:30 p.m., International House Assembly Hall, Register online
As part of its annual Chicago Interfaith Gathering, the Niagara Foundation, which works to advance conversations and relationships between people of different cultures and faiths, will offer a panel discussion about the effects of racist political rhetoric in the 2016 election on racial and religious minorities in the United States. Reverend Dirk Ficca, the director of the Interreligious Initiative for Middle East Peace, will be the keynote speaker, while Michael Dawson, a political science professor at UChicago, will moderate the discussion.
—Eileen Li, Peyton Alie, Annie Nazzaro, Emily Kramer, Sonia Schlesinger
